I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate, especially those who spoke in support of Amendment 188.
I pay tribute to my noble friend the Minister. It must be pleasing for him to see his work on the quality of life come to life. I commend a slightly shorter report that we did on bricks and water, which goes to the point of building regulations and minimum standards. I am pleased that he is committed not only to labelling but to the work being done with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on minimum standards. As the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, said, that is extremely important. I share the concern of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, that Clause 83 allows a potential weakening of the EU water framework directive. I hope this will not be the case and that, if anything, we might impose higher standards, which we would wish to meet.
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The noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, raised a point of concern. Successive Governments have looked at the compulsory metering of water. All parties, not just water companies but Governments, Oppositions and local authorities, must raise awareness. There is a certain reticence among those on fixed and low incomes because, rightly or wrongly, they believe that their
costs through the water bills will go up. I urge my noble friend the Minister and his opposite number in the housing department to look very carefully at how we can do that.
On a point of factual correction, the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, said that we are the only country in Europe which does not charge on value for water. I think Denmark charges through the council tax for its water consumption and that is then passed back to the water companies. That is a lead-in to saying that I wish both teams playing tonight well but, as a half-Dane, obviously I will be wishing Denmark on very vigorously. I hope that my noble friend will listen carefully to those of us who have made our representations so strongly in this group but, at the moment, I beg leave to withdraw Amendment 188.